Tie plate and rail fastener



April 16, 1929. J, McGREW I 1,709,731

TIE PLATE AND RAIL FASTENER Filed Sept. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i9 a rpa 123 Q W ii //5 i W l i April 1929. .1. A. MGGREW 1,709,731

TIE PLATE AND RAIL FASTENER Filed Sept. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Apr. 16, 1929.

UNITED STATES JOHN A. MCGREW, F ALBANY, NEW YORK.

TIE PIiATE AND RAIL FASTENER.

Application filed September 27, 1928. Serial No. 308,822.

This invention relates to rail fasteners and more particularly to thattype of rail fasteners in which the rail is clamped to a tie plate,which tie plate is independently secured to the tie.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved form of tie plate and rail fastener.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a tieplate and rail fastener in which the rail base is secured to the tieplate solely by spring action.

Among the features of the invention may be enumerated the following:

1. The rail base is not confined against lateral movements by positiveabutments but by frictional engagement with the upper surface of the tieplate resulting from spring pressure on the upper surface of the railbase.

2. Spring pressure is applied to the upper surface of the rail base bymeans of a spring key or plate having one edge bearing on the rail baseand the other edge on the tie plate and bearing intermediate these edgesbeneath a fulcrum supported from the tie plate.

3. Spring action and flexing of the key or spring plate is brought aboutby relative 3o longitudinal movement between it and the tie plate.

4. Cooperating wedge members on the spring plate and the tie plateproduce such movement of thespring plate as to cause it to more tightlyengage the rail base, upon relative longitudinal movement of the springand tie plate, while yet retaining its parallelism. in respect to thelongitudinal axis of the rail.

Other and further features and objects of -,the invention will be moreapparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration pf theaccompanying drawings and following specification. The invention issusceptible of various modifications, of which two embodiments thereofare illustrated in the accompanying drawings but it will be understoodthat various changes may be made in the invention such as fall withinthe scope of the appended claims without departing from the spiritthereof.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a lan view of one form of tie plate and rail astenerconstructed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse section through the rail showing the tie platein elevation;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Figure -l is aperspective view of the spring clamping plate and integralwedge;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a different embodiment of theinvention;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of the second embodiment of theinvention;

Figure 7 is a horizontal section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the spring clamping member used withthis em- .bodiment.

The invention is illustrated in conjunction with a standard form ofrailroad rail shown at 10 having the conventional form of base 11 with aflat bottom and sloping upper surfaces 12. The invention includes thetie plate 13 built somewhat along conventional lines having thesubstantially rectangular base provided with apertures 14 to receivespikes or preferably lag bolts for securing the tie plate in a permanentmanner to any convenient form of tie. The tie plate differs from theconventional however in not providing abutments to prevent lateralmovement of the rail base in respect to the tie plate. Hence the tieplate can be secured permanently to the tie and adjustments made togauge the track by movement of the rail in respect to the tie plate.

Spaced some distance laterally beyond the flat seat 15 for the rail basethe integral claws or lugs 16 have their base portions 17 merging intothe tie plate. These vertical portions extend up and join the horizontalportions 18 by means of the curved sections 19. The horizontal portionshave their under surfaces spaced above the rail seat a dist anee almostequal to twice the thickness of the edge of the rail base. The distancebetween the inner ends 20 of the oppositel disposed claws is slightlyless than the width of the rail base, but the base can conveniently bearranged beneath the claws by a slight eanting action when it is placedin position.

The junction of the inner surfaces 20 and the bottom surfaces 21 of thehorizontal parts of the claws form the edges 22 which will hereinafterbe referred to as fulcrums.

To clamp'each side of the rail base to the tie plate, a spring plate orkey 23 is arranged with one edge bearing on the top of the rail base andthe other on the tie plate with an intermediate ortion of its uppersurface in contact wit the fulcrum. The spring plate is slightly flexedto exert pressure on the topsurface of the rail. To effect thiscondition the spring plates are of the form shown in Fig. 4. Their mainor upper portion 25 is substantially flat and of a thicknesscommensurate with width to have sufiicient strength and spring actionfor the purpose. One edge of the plate is turned down by a suitablerolling or forging operation to form the flange 26 of substantially thesame thickness as that of the top member but of gradually increasingwidth from one end to the other forming the wedge surface 27 inclined tothe upper portion 25 as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This wedgesurface 27 is adapted to cooperate with a corresponding wedge surface 30on the tie plate.

The tie plate wedge surface is formed by cutting a groove 28 ofincreasing depth and constant width in the re-entrant shoulder 29between the vertical portion 17 of the claw and the base of the tieplate. The outer wall of this groove is coincident with the inner faceof the vertical portion 17. The angle of the wedge surface 27 is equalto that of the bottom 30 of the groove 28 so that when the wedgesurfaces are arranged in proximity the top of the spring lever maybeparallel to the base of the tie plate and consequently to the uppersurface of the rail base.

The spring plates or keys are assembled by sliding them longitudinallywith their upper members over the rail base and their wedge portions inthe grooves 28. The outer edges 31 of the upper members of the springplates engage the rail base a material distance in from its edge andsuch an elevation thereon that this upper member is sloped upwardltO\VlI'd.th6 flange of the rail so that the ulcrum 2'2'alone engages thetop surface of the upper member substantially along its longitudinalcenter. By driving the spring plates so as to brin the wedge surfacesthereon more comp etely in engagement with the wedge surfaces of thebottoms of the grooves 28 greater pressure can be brought to bear at 31on the rail base and the top plates 25 of the keys be caused to flexorbend around the fulcrums. The spring members are suitably heat treatedso that they will not take a permanent set as a result of this bendingbut will always exert a resilient pressure on the top of the rail baseto insure that it is held against the tie plate with sufficient effortto prevent movement whether laterall or longitudinally. Of course theangles 0 the grooves beneath two claws are oppositel disposed. It willbe evident that the rail can be adjusted laterally of the tie plate bythe suitable adjustment of the two spring plates and that it can besecurely locked in any desired position thereon. Lateral movement afteradjustment is prevented by the engagement of the sloping surface of therail base top with the key and of the outer edge of the key with thewall of the vertical portion of the claw. By virtue of the action of thespring members, vibrations and continual pounding from wheels will notwork the securing means loose.

To prevent the spring plates from slipping back as a result of thedouble wedge action it is convenient to provide each lug or claw with aset screw 33 through the curved portion thereof adapted to bear on thecurved junction of the top member and the wedge portion of the springplate so that this set screw can be set up after the rail is properlyadjusted to prevent any accidental movement thereafter.

In the modification just disclosed flexing of the spring plate about itsfulcrum takes place by virtue of vertical elevation of the edge of thespring late beneath the claw or lug. In the modi cation shown in Fi ures5 to 8 the construction is substantially identical except that flexingthe sprin plate is effected by moving it laterally and causing its railbase engaging edge 31' to slide up the sloping surface of the rail base.

In describing this modification the refer- "ence characters are similarto those used in the first modification with the addition of primes.

The claws or lugs have their vertical parts 17 as in the priormodification but these vertical parts are made in the form of horizontalwedges and increase in thickness as best shown in Fig. 7 from theforward edge 35' to the rearward edge 36' thus producing the verticalwedge face 37' extending from the base 15 of the tie plate to the undersurface 21' of the upper portion of the claws.

The spring plates for cooperation wit-h the rail base and claws areprovided with correspondingly shaped and inclined wedge mem-.

bers 38 formed integral with the top spring portions 25' of theseplates. The spring portion 25' of the spring plates is of constant Widththroughout its length, the variation in the total width of the membersbeing effected in the wedge portions as clearly seen in Figure 8. p

In assembling the same procedure is followed as in the previousmodification but upon driving the spring plates to effect relativelongitudinal movement between them and the tie plate they are accorded alateral horizontal movement by the cooperation of the wedging surfaceson the claws and the spring plates. This causes the fulcrums 22' on theclaws to change their relatii'e positions in respect to the width of thespring plates and causes the bearing edges 31 of the spring plates toclimb up on the sloping upper surfaces of the rail base, thereby in.-creasing the length of the overhanging portion of the spring plates andraisin their edges 31' to flex them about the fu crums 22'. Theunderface of the wedge '38 on the spring plate of course bears on thetop surface of the tie plate. The action of holdin the rail by springpressure is the same in tips modification as in the other,,the onlydifference being that relative longitudinal motion between the sprinplates and the tie. plate produces lateral orizontal movement of thewhole spring plate whereas in the first or preferred modification itproduces vertical movement of the outer edge of the spring plate. Ineither case the spring .plate is flexed.

In the present form of the invention set screws 33 are used passingthrough the upper arms 18' of the claws to engage with the thickened orwedge portions of the spring plates and hold them in their adjustedposition.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rail fastener comprising in combination, a tie plate, two clawsintegral with said tie plate, a pair of keys each' having a spring leverportion and a wedge portion, a co-- operating wedge portion under eachclaw,

each key being adapted to fit under a claw with the spring lever portionhaving its 35 outer edge resting on the sloping, surface of the railbase, its intermediate portion fulcrumed on the edge of the claw. andits wedge'portion supported from the tie plate whereby relativelongitudinal movement of 40 the cooperating wedges tends to increase theflexing the rail base.

2. A rail fastener comprising in combina tion, a tie plate havingan'integral claw on its upper surface at each side of the rail,

the free edge of each claw being parallel to the axis of the rail andmaterially above the base to form a fulcrum, a spring lever for eachclaw having its outer edge resting on the sloping surface of the railbase inwardly of the edge thereof, said fulcrum.

bearing on the upper surface of said lever intermediate its edges andmeans to flex said lever around said fulcrum to cause it to bear tightlyon said railbase.

3. A rail fastener comprising in combination, a tie plate, an integralclaw projecting abovethe surface thereof and having a free edge parallelto the axis of the rail to form I .60 a fulcrum, a spring lever arrangedpartially beneath said claw with said fulcrum inter mediate itslongitudinal edges, one of said edges bearing on the sloping surface ofthe rail base and cooperatin means on said other edge and said tie p ateto force said of the spring and the pressure on.

to force said first mentioned edge tightly into engagement with saidrail base and to flex said lever, the edge of the rail base beneath saidclaw and lever being free.

5. In a rail fastener in combination, a tie plate, means thereonproviding a fulcrum, a spring lever engaging beneath said fulcrum andhaving an edge resting onthe rail base and means to elevate the otheredge of said lever to flex the same and clamp the rail to the tie plate.

6. In a rail fastener in combination, a tie plate, means thereonproviding a fulcrum, a spring lever engaging beneath said fulcrum andhaving an edge resting on the rail base and means to move the other edgeof said lever to cause said first mentioned edge to bear tightly on saidbase.

7. In a rail fastener, in combination, a tie plate, means thereonproviding a fulcrum slightly overhanging the rail base, a spring platehaving one edge resting on said base materially -in from the edgethereof and spaced from the fulcrum, awedge integral with said springplate, a cooperating wedge integral with said tie plate, said wedgesbeing arranged'so that relative longitudinal motion thereof flexes saidspring'lplate about said fulcrum to clamp said rail to said 'tie plate.

8. In a rail fastener, in combination, a tie plate, means thereonproviding a fulcrum slightly overhanging the 'rail base, a spring platehaving one edge resting on said base materially in from the edge thereofand spaced from the fulcrum, a wedge integral with said spring plate onthe opposite side of said fulcrum from said edge bearing on the railbase, 'a cooperating Wedge integral with said tie plate and arranged sothat. relative movement between said plates in a longitudinal directionincreases or decreases the bearing of said spring plate on the railbase.

-9. In a rail fastener, in comblnatlon, a

tie plate, means thereon providing a fulcrum slightly overhangirg therail base, a

spring plate having one edge resting on said base materially in from theedge thereof and spaced from the fulcrum, a wedge integral with saidspring plate on the opposite side of said fulcrum /from said edgebearing on the rail base, a cooperating wedge integral with said tieplate and arranged so that relative'nlovcnient between said plates in alongitudinal direction increases or decreases the bearing of said springplate on the rail base and :means to clamp said plates together afteradjustment.

10. In a rail fastener, in combination,' 'a tie plate adaptedto supportthe base of a rail, a spring member bearing at one end on said base andat the other on said tie plate, a rigid fulcrum bearing on the uppersur- 1 face of said member andmeansto raise one end of said springmember toincrease the pressure of the fulcrum on the upper surfacethereof.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

JOHN A. MCGREW.

